Victory
by SweetArrogance
Summary: A Quinn/Santana character study.  What are the lengths they're wiling to take to get to the top?  What will they gain?  What will they lose? Couples:  BrittanyxSantana/PuckxSantana/QuinnxPuck/QuinnxSam/QuinnxSantana
1. Chapter 1

You know that one friend you have that you want to strangle upon the first word out of their mouth, but you keep them around anyways? That was the relationship between Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez.

So naturally since Quinn had the good, Christian girl, thing about her she won top spot in the Cheerios instantly. And while Sue thought adversity was just a conspiracy for terrorists to smuggle themselves into the inner-circles of hard-working Americans, Santana became second-in-charge because of bitchy, demeaning mannerisms. It was a mix of good and bad; sugar and spice; graceful and sultry; tough and aggressive.

You'd think a pair like that should go hand-in-hand but it only created animosity. One look exchanged upon the first day they met and instantly the only synchronized emotion they'd ever felt passed through the air: _I must take her down._

And though this is debatable there is a saying that you only need two people in life. A nemesis and an archenemy. A nemesis to spark good-natured rivalry. Someone of whom you take pleasure in their failures but would feel empty if you didn't have them to compete against. An archenemy to release all your unbridled hate and anger on. That's all you need.

That's all Quinn ever had, and that's why she was number one. But while Santana undoubtable created many enemies in her life she _did _have a best friend. How can this be a bad thing, you say? Who knows. But it was inevitably her downfall.

Brittany seemed to be the only light in Santana's world. And while Santana tried all she could do to put Quinn down there was no way she could make Fabray feel any worse than she already did. Her family was shit to her. She was recovering from the public shame of a teen pregnancy.

But Quinn knew she could manipulate Santana's relationship with Brittany for her own personal gain. And so a plan was set into action.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, this chapter has a lot of recap. moments but I needed to mention them in order to get the next part of the story rolling so bear with me because this chapter is a little dry.

Okay sure the boob thing was a cheap shot but it was a good first start. Of course Santana didn't let this slide without slapping Quinn across the face and then shouting out a few personal attacks. Quinn had to admit it hurt to hear those things about her; people had been pretty quiet since the new school year started. Now she knew it would be fresh in their minds.

Bitch wasn't going to get away so easy. The next afternoon at cheer practice Quinn made sure to dig into Santana's spine hard as she climbed to the top of the pyramid, literally and metaphorically showing the Latina her place.

"Oh, sweet lady kisses," Brittany murmured happily.

"Mm-hmm, it's a nice break from all that scissoring," Santana whispered seductively.

"We should do a duet together," Brittany suggested, looking blindly forward into a future where she could sing to her love in front of everybody without looks or stares, "We should sing, Melissa Ethridge's Come to My Window."

Santana abruptly pulled her lips away from Brittany's neck, "Okay first of all, there's a lot of talk going on, and I wants to get my mack on."

"I just thought…that-"

Santana shot up, proceeding to tie her hair back into it's signature ponytail, "I'm not making out with you because I'm in love with you and want to sing about making lady-babies. I'm only here because Puck's been in the slammer for three hours now and I'm like a lizard. I need something warm beneath me or I can't digest my food."

It was a lie, Santana knew it. But she was already leagues behind Quinn and coming out is definitely not going to make achieving ultimate popularity any easier. Competition has always been Santana's first love. Sure Brittany came a price. But popularity could only bring her good things.

Quinn noticed the distance between Santana and Brittany in Glee the next day. They sat in entirely different ends of the room. Santana scowling at everyone and everything, Brittany attempting to socialize with Artie, and leaning a little too far forward so his eyes were parallel with her breasts.

Intrigued, and a little amused, by this new development Quinn began to scrutinize the actions of her fellow Cheerios more closely. She would never do anything bad to Brittany because the girl's clueless innocence was charming and also a good stress reliever. But that didn't affect whatsoever her feelings towards Santana. The little she-devil needed to be eliminated and Quinn might finally have a way to bring her down.

Brittany was rolling Artie down the hall and making some sort of agreement with him when Santana stepped out with a sneer. Brittany sent Santana a petulant glare and pointed at her boobs then wagged her finger no.

_No way, _Quinn gasped. _Couldn't be._ But from the dejected, guilt-ridden expression on Santana's face things suddenly became clear.


	3. Chapter 3

Somewhere in the middle of their Rocky Horror rehearsal week Brittany and Santana made up. Quinn didn't know how or why and stuck with the conviction that whatever it was in the first place was all Santana's fault.

Every now and then a finger would roam, a glance would linger, a sigh would escape either girl's lips and these only confirmed Quinn's suspicion. _They're totally gay for each other._

But Quinn was smart and she wouldn't just shove this marvelous piece of blackmail information into the wrong hands; particularly Jacob Ben Israel who persisted in asking her pregnancy questions even though everyone else had the decency to just drop it. She didn't even have to ask before Puck slammed the kids face into a locker, doing impossibly more damage to his already hideous appearance. Quinn felt no remorse because that was who she was. Sure she empathized, and became a lot more preceptive after the whole ordeal but she was still ambitious and emotions just got in the way of achieving her goals. She and Santana had that in common so she planned to use Santana against herself.

Emotions. Kryptonite to Santana's superman. Make her feel something other than superiority and she crumbled like the rest of them; unable to handle the sheer force of her own insecurities bringing her down. Quinn was a genius.

Quinn began putting her plan into action slowly. As the Cheerio's got dressed in the locker room after showering Quinn walked over to Santana's locker. Santana was only have dressed, skirt on and fumbling with her top which was inside-out. Quinn looked straight ahead to avoid the inevitable Santana glare and walked down the aisle of lockers like a queen. Before reaching the other side and strutting out the door she purposely let her hand slide across Santana's exposed waist line. Satisfied with the slight shiver she felt go up Santana's body as she reacted with the touch Quinn grinned evil mirth as she left the locker room.

For a week she would subtly come on to Santana; sending seductive looks her way, tugging on her ponytail in Astronomy where Quinn sat right behind her, "accidentally" touching skin. Quinn was impressed by the way Santana played everything off and almost let go of the lesbian thing. Maybe she and Britt where just really close. Or maybe they were just "experimenting". Or maybe, she was even just using Britt as a LUG to gain even _more popularity._

This only fueled Quinn's drive for revenge and her approach became more aggressive. "You look really hot without your top on," she said one as she passed by Santana in the locker room.

"Quinn!" Santana shouted before the head cheerleader left. All the other Cheerio's were still in the showers. "What's up with you, are you freaking in love with me?"

"Are you in love with me," Quinn challenged.

"Hell no," Santana smirked, hands falling to her waist.

"But you like it when I touch you," Quinn threw caution to the wind, if she was going to make this work she'd have to work harder, "You like it when I do this?" Slowly her hands crept their way around Santana's waist.

Santana was now visibly uncomfortable at the contact. At first Quinn thought it was just awkwardness at being this close with another girl but there was something else in Santana's eyes…was it…guilt?

"Aww, what's the matter San," Quinn's lips turned upwards into a devilish smile, "afraid your girlfriend will catch you cheating?"

Santana shoved Quinn away, "What girlfriend?"

"Brittany."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"I highly doubt that."

"Like you would know. Are you actually a lesbian? Could you spot one a mile away? Got a be one to know one." Santana finally pulled her Cheerios top over her head and tightened her ponytail. The scowl she was wearing on her face matched that of Quinn and from a sideways point of view they looked like mirror images.

"So you would know then?" Quinn taunted.

"No," Santana slammed her locker shut, "I wouldn't. But don't think I wouldn't tell about you."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "You know I'm not gay."

Santana shrugged, "Maybe. But you behavior says otherwise. And I'm not stupid. I know what you're doing. So that's why I set this up." Santana re-opened her locker and pulled out a little video camera. "So if I just cut out that small insignificant discussion we just had, and include all the stuff about you coming onto me, and me pushing you away," Santana spoke as she replayed the video clip in front of Quinn's horrified eyes, "You'll be the school's top news again Fabray. Quinn Fabray: Straight or Gay? Has a nice ring to it." Santana laughed and her eyes sparkled with mirth and venom.

"I don't believe you," Quinn attempted, in a last effort to weasel out of a hopeless situation.

"You're right. I actually have a conscience and her name is _Brittany S, Pierce. _Because of the angel of a human being I will spare you another year of ridicule and regret but only if you swear to keep your mouth shut about me. We both have skeletons in our closets, we both want to be at the top-" Quinn hated the way she kept saying _we both _"-we both strive for popularity more than anything so I guess everything is fair game. Just don't think you'll be winning so easily."

Santana crushed the tape in front of Quinn and the gesture was so powerful it took _both _of them a moment to process what had just happened. A cheerio walked out of the showers in time to see Santana give Quinn a friendly hug, "Now **back off **Fabray. I'll give you a day or two to recoup, which gives me a day or two to relax, and then hopefully you can't come back with a less bitchy way of bringing me down."


	4. Chapter 4

It was a victory on Santana's part. And nothing went better with victory than victory sex. First she hooked up with Puck, who didn't know what brought on this unsought of joy but relished in Santana's newfound exuberance. Then she stopped by Brittany's because she could never go home at night without seeing her best friend a last time.

She ended up sleeping over because they had _soooo _much to talk about and the Lopez's agreed that it was a good thing for their daughter to feel happy…for once.

"Quinn did that to you!" Brittany's mouth was agape in shock.

"I know, right?" Santana's voice was thick with melodrama, "but I gave her what she deserved. I had a tape recording and threatened to show the video to everyone in school."

"But San that's so mean!" Brittany had a fair amount of bitch in her, simply because Santana rubs off but nobody ever thought of Brittany as a bad person. Everyone knew she was the epitome of goodness in this world. So blissfully unaware of everything bad that nobody wanted to contaminate it. Nobody dared interfere in Brittany's happy little world because she in turn brought happiness unto them.

"I know," Santana looked down, and then up again with curiosity in her eyes, "but I broke the tape."

"Why?"

Santana's forehead creased as she tried to think of the reason. She exhaled slowly and looked into Brittany's eyes, "Because of you."

Brittany's eyes widened.

"I knew you'd be disappointed in me, and I knew deep down it wasn't right. I swear if you're making me a little softy. I should've destroyed Fabray when I had the chance. Now I have nothing over her."

"You have me," Brittany interjected quietly. They were both lying on the covers of her bed, parallel to each other, staring at the ceiling. Brittany had a bunch of dream-catchers hanging off the ceiling to protect her even in sleep from everything evil. Santana bought most of them, insisting that she wanted Brittany wanted to be safe. Brittany didn't mind because they all came in pretty colors and shapes.

Santana looked over at Brittany, "Yeah…I have you." Brittany kissed her forehead and the two proceeded to meditate in silence, on opposite ends of the bed. It was a sort of quiet intimacy that signified a relationship that was very strong and unbreakable, where even hours in silence can be the most enjoyable moment of your life.

Quinn didn't have that and it made Santana smile. There was one thing Quinn could never have that Santana did. And staring at the blonde beauty asleep and at peace made Santana find a whole new confidence inside. The kind that assured her at least one person in this world would love her unconditionally, even if no one else did.


	5. message for you

Okay, so sorry if there is some confusion. For starters, I accidentally posted chapter 2 twice but it's fixed now.

Secondly I have a lot of typos and I can't take all the stories down just to correct my spelling. It shouldn't be that bad. I'm not sure in which chapters but I used "preceptive" instead of "perceptive". And also "unsought" instead of "onslaught".

So look out for those in case you catch them. And please leave me reviews so I can improve as a writer.

Thank you(:

P.S. I have most of the chapters already written so I'm going to start off with 3 day intervals. I new chapter, every three days. Hopefully in that time I'll be able to garner more subscribers and then maybe I'll change to 2 days in between chapters.


	6. Chapter 5

"So Quinn, your ego repaired yet or is it still in shreds since our last conversation," Santana plopped down into the seat beside Quinn as glee club began.

"It's doing just fine thanks, in fact, seems like _your _ego could use a little adjustment," Quinn spat, through clenched teeth.

Santana got up to sit next to Brittany but before she moved she hissed, "Lopez: 1. Fabray: ZERO"

Quinn's whole body clenched as she radiated with anger. Santana was going down _hard. _

Though Santana put off the whole gay thing Quinn was still suspicious. So she tackled it another way. Ever since Santana got demoted to the bottom of the pyramid Quinn got to spend more time with Brittany, who was near the top. The Cheerio's pyramid was a metaphor for the social pyramid itself. While amongst the student body Santana was still the HBIC, the Cheerios had their own mini-cliques within the team.

Base pyramid - Sue's rejects

Middle pyramid - not quite popular but better than the base

High middle - too cool to talk to unless you were one of them

Top - Ultimate glory

During practice, although Santana and Brittany were glued at the hip 24/7, they rarely saw each other. Santana refused to associate with the other base-pyramid(errs) and sat on the side envying those who were above her.

Lately Quinn made sure she was directly in Santana's range of view as she began to strike up a more-than-friendly relationship with Brittany. She could feel Santana's glare from fifty feet away. Every time they headed in from practice Santana would shove past Quinn emitting a feral growl, similar to that of an animal marking it's territory.

Quinn spent her evenings basking the success of her latest plot. She was so enamored with self-glorification that she decided to treat herself. One weekend she told her mother (whom she was living with though remained alienated with her father) she was going to the mall for a couple hours. Getting a loyal, freshman cheerio servant to send back adequate replies for when her mom texted, she detoured to Puck's house where they engaged in similar activities to those of him and Santana.

Ok, hold it right there. Quinn had sex with Puck? Again? They used protection, and she switched to what seemed a more reliable birth control. But during her moment of glory she didn't want to worry about the consequences and enjoyed the pleasure of having won.

Puck was just happy to have sex with the two hottest girls in school.

A week later the fear settled in and Quinn stole some kids card so she could by a pregnancy test. It came back negative and with renewed vigor she walked the halls of McKinley High with the arrogance of a royal bitch.

"You bitch," Santana slapped Quinn across the face.

Quinn didn't fight back. She wanted Santana to push the limit, to do something that could be used against her. So she only dug herself further into the hole. "I knew you'd be jealous. Admit it. You like Brittany. You like _girls."_

The way Quinn said it in that obnoxious, annoying tone was enough to make Santana rear for another blow but she stopped. She inhaled and exhaled slowly allowing herself to calm. They were in the empty Cheerio's locker room, which had become the meeting place for their little bitch fights.

"Who do you think you're dealing with, Preggo?"

Quinn flattened out her uniform revealing her toned midsection, "Formerly pregnant. Head Cheerio now, I think you should address me with some amount of respect."

"I'll treat you with respect the day you deserve it," Santana spoke with so much venom in her voice it shook Quinn's core. Santana stormed out of the locker room leaving Quinn feeling, dare she admit it, _guilty._

_"Hey Brittany," Santana said, approaching her best friend at the swing set. School was over but sometimes they liked to hang out at the playground, just the two of them._

_"Hey San!" Brittany's face immediately lit up at the sight of her best friend approaching. They sat side by side rocking gently back and forth. They were quiet for a while until Santana finally spoke up._

_"You remember my Uncle Sebastian?"_

_"Yeah, I liked him. He showed me how to salsa that one time."_

_Santana smiled at the memory before continuing, "Well he and his wife just divorced."_

_Brittany's forehead furrowed in confusion so Santana clarified, "It means they broke up. They're not married anymore."_

_Brittany looked even more confused, "But…why? They looked happy."_

_Santana sighed, "I know it was horrible. Promise something?" She held out her pinky as part of tradition._

_Brittany linked her own pinky through Santana's._

_"Promise we'll be together forever? I don't ever want us to be apart. Lonely people don't have any fun. Just like Patches in front of the library."_

_Brittany would have agreed to jumping off a cliff after looking into those sensitive, brown eyes. She promised and they just left their fingers there, in a comfortable moment of friendship._

"Hey Britt." Brittany happened to be sitting at the same swing at the same playground at their old elementary school. "What are you doing here? You do remember we graduated right?"

Brittany nodded solemnly, "I remember. I remember because I thought "graduating" meant we all had to go to different schools and I almost cried because I didn't want to leave you but then you told me it just meant we were just growing up and someday we would have the choice to do what we wanted, and we could live our whole lives together so long as we graduated out of here."

Santana's eyes were misty and Brittany knew to stop talking. She knew Santana hated confronting her emotions so she let the girl push back the feelings that threatened to overflow out her body.

"I remember that day," she said in a whispery voice. It didn't sound like she was about to cry. It sounded more like those storytellers who get so into their stories that whoever's listening feel like it could actually be real. Brittany loved it when Santana spoke like this. It didn't matter if she was mean to other kids so long as Brittany got to see this side of her every now and then.

"What are you doing here," Santana asked.

"I don't know," Brittany replied.

Santana touched her shoulder, "Yes you do, so tell me." Her voice was firm, and she always spoke like that whenever Brittany got confused. She knew Brittany was smart it just took her a while to access that part of her brain.

Brittany sighed, "I was just thinking…about Quinn." Santana's breathing hitched and Brittany's heart-ached because she expected as much.

Santana sat in the swing next to Brittany and stared at the ground. Looking down at the earth was a way of releasing all her emotions into the ground, and she could feel calm. "What sort of things were you thinking about her?"

Brittany didn't want to tell the truth but she never **ever **lied to Santana so she simply let it all out, "Well lately I feel like Quinn's been coming onto me which is weird because after having a baby and all I was pretty sure she was straight but now it seems like she, you know, wants me and I don't know what to do because even though I never thought of her that way she does have pretty blonde hair, and the most amazing eyes I just…"

"You just what?" Santana wasn't sure she wanted to hear it but she had a silent mantra going in case it was bad news for her: _do whatever makes Brittany happy. Whatever makes Brittany happy. Whatever makes Brittany happy._

"I just felt a little guilty because I know you were upset when you saw her flirting with me and I know it probably upset you more when you saw me flirting back-" at this Santana cringed "-but I only did it because I saw the two of you together a couple weeks ago looking pretty close and it was sort my revenge…against…you." Brittany slowed at the end hoping she hadn't just made the biggest mistake of her life.

"Yeah I was pretty ticked off," Santana began, unable to mask her frustration, "but…I feel like I owe you an explanation."

Brittany looked up at Santana with hopeful eyes, maybe Santana would forgive her.

"Lately this little fight between Quinn and I to be at the top has gotten a little out of hand. I threatened to tell the school she was a lesbian and then she jumped in and decided to toy with my emotions by trying to steal you away from me."

Brittany was a little touched by the way Santana spoke. It was like Brittany was hers and only hers, and Brittany didn't mind. She didn't like sharing Santana either. "So why me?" Brittany asked.

_Damn, _Santana thought. Brittany was very perceptive, and especially good at reading Santana. It was sort of this underlying connection the two of them had. They didn't need other people to understand so long as they understood each other.

"Well…" Santana began, searching for the proper words, "she wanted to take away something important to me." _Perfect._

"So…I'm important to you." Brittany knew all this was unnecessary. She knew Santana cared about her even if she didn't say it as much. But lately she'd been feeling a little needy and she really wanted Santana to just come out and say it.

"…yes. I mean, you're my best friend, Brittany." Santana swallowed hard. Brittany meant more to her than that, and it was the first time Santana had ever felt like that about anyone. She was scared.

Brittany tried not to let the words "best friends" affect her too much. They already made out and stuff, what was the need to start a full-fledged relationship? Brittany sighed and tried to convince herself she was content with their current situation.

Santana held out her pinky; a simple gesture that carried a much deeper meaning than anyone could ever know. Brittany link her pinky with Santana's, assuring her that she hadn't forgotten their promise. _Forever._


	7. Chapter 6

Okay so Glee club passed by uneventfully; go figure. Though neither Quinn nor Santana (mostly Santana though) would never admit it, they really liked Glee club. Even on slow days it just meant more to time relax with their friends. It was a place where reputations meant nothing, and for the two rivals, this was a welcome change of pace.

When the club was over Santana made sure to hurriedly yank Brittany out of the room before Quinn tried to make any more advancements. But Quinn never came. Peering back into the choir room Santana saw the blonde blushing profusely as Sam Evans made a comment about how pretty her eyes were.

Santana didn't know what the deal was so far. She thought there was something going on between them and the only reason it ever mattered to her was because she regularly had sex with Puck and was just wondering if he as doing any other girl. She thought for sure, if it had to be anyone, probably Quinn because it was obvious the guy still had feelings for her.

But it seemed like Quinn was really into this guy. Brittany came and stared over Santana's shoulder. "Look at how he's looking at her," she whispered.

"What about it?" Santana muttered back.

"He's her something special. If I had someone that looked at me like that all the time I would never want them to be taken away from me."

Santana turned back around pulling her head out of the choir room. She looked directly into Brittany's eyes which had a different look to them that day. It was sort of melancholy. Brittany offered up the brightest smile she could offer because she lived to make Santana happy, since nobody else had that power.

Santana could tell it was forced but she reached up and kissed her. _The hallway is empty_, Brittany noticed dryly.

"Wanna come over tonight?" Santana asked as they made their way out the school.

"Okay."

"Don't sound so excited," Santana muttered sarcastically.

"But I didn't," the blonde stated blankly.

Santana sighed at the harsh truth of those words. "Yeah I know, Britt."


	8. Chapter 7

Quinn allowed herself to doze off during Mr. Henne's lesson on subatomic particle reactions. What had possessed her to take AP Chem. in 11th grade anyways?

Simply _thinking _the question was redundant. It was the same thing that drove her to do good in every other aspect of her life. The glory that comes with being #1.

Unfortunately she didn't anticipate the spit ball that shot at her neck. She glared at her attacker who was smirking with petty satisfaction. Yes, Santana had this class too. Amazingly enough, Quinn never bothered to ask why. She assumed it was for the same reason she was.

The truth is science was Santana's secret talent. After Gym no longer became a required class, there was an opening for another elective in her schedule. So she decided to take both AP Chem. and Physics unbeknownst to the other Cheerios who figured she was just as dumb as they were. she figured if there was any chance of her leaving Lima, Ohio then she had to be good at something.

Brittany was an amazing dancer. Artie was a tech geek, Rachel would undoubtably end up on Broadway, Mercedes had her chocolate thunder; everyone Santana knew had an easy way out. Santana would always have to work at things and it's what she hated most about herself, but her strive for being the best kept her going.

-|- _Last Night _-|-

Brittany and Santana were sitting on Brittany's bed, awkwardly trying to homework, neither girl making very much progress.

"Britt," Santana said softly, "Is there something wrong?"

Brittany remained silent.

"C'mon, Brit you know I can't stand the silent treatment," Santana whined in that adorable, little-kid way that Brittany loved.

Brittany continued to remain silent. Not necessarily to be rude but simply because she didn't know what she wanted to say.

Santana groaned, "Is it me? Did I do something wrong?"

"Maybe" Brittany shrugged.

"Okay did I say something wrong?"

Brittany shook her head."

"Did I…look at something -er- wrong?"

Brittany shook her head again.

"Did I hear something wrong?"

After the third time Brittany shook her head "no" Santana was beginning to feel hopeless. She threw her hands up in frustration, "Did I _feel _something wrong?" Santana chuckled weakly at her own joke until she saw Brittany slowly nod.

"Well…" Brittany struggled to find her words, "It's not that you felt something wrong it's that you didn't feel what I wanted you to feel and that felt wrong…to me."

Santana tried to make sense of Brittany's little epiphany. "What did you want me to feel, Britt?" Santana's voice was a little shaky; she wasn't sure where this conversation was going.

Brittany was nervous as well because any emotion Santana ever felt always morphed into anger. "I wanted you to feel like…more…than just my best friend." There was a knot in her stomach that she found hard to untangle. She knew she felt something more for Santana than just friendship but she didn't know what that feeling was.

Santana chose, for once, to let her heart guide her rather than her mind. "But I do," she said quietly.

Brittany looked up at her. Silent hope shining in her eyes. Santana made a move to touch the blonde's hand but decided against it, instead balling up her hands into fists. "In fact…sometimes I think I feel _too _much for you, and that scares me. Please don't take it personally if I get angry around you," there was quiet desperation in Santana's gaze, "normally all that anger is directed at myself."

Though later on Brittany would realize Santana hadn't said exactly what she wanted her to, she felt something behind Santana's words that compensated. Raw, honest, emotions; Brittany knew they were felt only for her.

She kissed Santana's check and the two just sat back, staring at each other with cheesy smiles on their faces.

"San?"

Santana was already preparing for the worst. Brittany could sure keep a girl on her toes. This "_feelings"_ thing was hard for Santana.

"Don't try and break up Sam and Quinn."

Santana's jaw clenched slightly, "I have to Britt. Sam is the key to crushing her, plus she deserves to be punished for trying to mess with…us." She said that last part hesitantly because she wasn't sure what yet to call her relationship with Brittany.

"Look, Santana," She reached over and firmly grasped Santana's hands (who cringed at first touch), "The way Sam looks at Quinn…its the same way I look at you. And I wouldn't want anyone to take you away from me. So please…at least do it for Sam?"

And so that's how the next, instead of breaking Quinn's heart, Santana simply spit-balled her into unhindered aggravation.


	9. Chapter 8

Grade reports. Even the nerdiest of all nerds get worried prior to report card time. It pretty much determined your future for the next two and a half months. It was a matter of life or death.

Coincidentally all of the Glee kids had waited to open theirs until after school (they supposed they were so used to doing things together).

Rachel went first; of course:

AP English 11: A

Free Period

Advanced Chorus: A

Physics: B+

Theatre: A

U.S. History: A

Spanish 3: A

She frowned at her Algebra 2 and Physics grade but everyone else just rolled their eyes, mostly because they were afraid of how much worse their grades would be by comparison.

Kurt boldly went next, who was inevitably followed by Mercedes:

-Kurt- -Mercedes-

French 3: A Physics: B

AP English 11: A English 11: A-

Algebra 2: A- Free Period

Sociology: A- Spanish 3: A

Fashion/Design: A Fashion/Design: A

U.S. History: B Algebra 2: A

Physics: B- AP U.S. History: B-

They exchanged their diva-handshake and some of their other Glee friends congratulated them with sincerity. Tina and Mike decided to share together like Kurt and Mercedes:

-Tina- -Mike-

Business Law: A- Free Period

Algebra 2: A- Algebra 2: A

Marketing 2: A- English 11: A

English 11: A- Physics: A

Physics: A- U.S. History: B+

U.S. History: A- Spanish 3: A

French 3: A Personal Fitness: A

Mike cringed at his B+ and decided that if he ever got the opportunity he'd kill the subject. OR maybe he'd kill his parents first so they wouldn't kill him when they saw the big fat blemish on his near-perfect report card. Tina was simply stunned by all the A minuses. Was it weird that the only class she had a solid grade in was a foreign language? Nevertheless, good grades overall.

Artie tentatively followed:

Marketing 2: A

Calculus BC/Trig: A

Website Design: A

AP Physics: A

AP U.S. History: A

Spanish 3: A

AP English 11: A

He didn't bother smiling when everyone cheered for his spectacular grades because the one person who he wanted to impress most was with someone else. Tina didn't bother high-fiving him because it would be too awkward.

After everyone quieted down nobody felt like being the person to go up after Artie. Rachel nudged Finn forward who soon had his grade sheet snatched away for everyone to see:

English 11: A-

U.S. History: B

Physics: B-

Family and Consumer Science: A

Personal Fitness: A-

Spanish 3: A

Algebra 2: B-

Okay so his Spanish grade did look a little out of place but everyone knew Mr. Shue was a little biased when it came to grading his Glee kid's report cards. Finn smiled at Rachel upon seeing the B in History because she really helped him pull that grade up. Most people were simply shocked that he took . and actually did well!

Sam went next in order to preserve his manhood (three girls were left aside from him).

English: B+

U.S. History: A

Physics: B-

Pre-Calculus: B

German 2: A-

Art 2: A

U.S. History: C+

Astronomy: A-

"Solid, dude," Finn and Sam fist-bumped.

Quinn smirked, "Still mixing up Venus and Mars I see." He grinned sheepishly.

Santana nudged Brittany forward.

Free Period

Calculus BC/Trig: A

English 11: C-

Personal Fitness: A

Spanish 3: A-

Physics: B-

U.S. History: D+

She looked downtrodden about the D+ but everyone's mouths were agape with shock about her math grade. "San," she whimpered, her mind still stuck on her HIstory grade.

Santana squeezed her shoulder and looked at the other Gleeks for help.

"You're really smart, Brittany," Rachel said quickly.

"Yeah, totally," Finn wasn't even sure he'd ever make it to Calculus in his high school life.

Artie had the same math as her and he already knew about her aptitude for math. "You're just a different kind of smart, Britt. It's like with dancing, you see it, you memorize it, you just do it. Like with math. Nobody else here takes Calc. aside from me and you, girl." He reached out to high-five her and she smiled again, all happiness and rainbows restored in the blonde's world.

The club turned to face the only two left.

"Captain first?" Santana said coyly.

Quinn snatched up her report card and held them up side-by-side:

-Quinn- -Santana-

Algebra 2: A Physics: A-

AP Chemistry: B- AP Chemistry: A

Art 1: A Creative Writing 1: A

Spanish 3: A Spanish 3: A

AP U.S. History: A Algebra 2: A

English 11: A U.S. History: C+

Personal Fitness: A AP English 11: A

Santana's grades shocked everybody. Most people thought Quinn would be the one with better grades (aside from Brittany who thought Santana was the best at everything). Personal Fitness was required for all Cheerios by Sue but since she demoted Santana to the bottom of the pyramid, she'd been paying less and less attention to her. So Santana took this opportunity to try out an elective that favored one of her secret hobbies: writing.

"AP Chem. and Physics? Seriously?" Artie looked up at her in shock mirroring the faces of the rest of the group.

"So what? So Brittany's a math whiz _and _she can dance. And Mike's Asian so he's obviously smart. Kurt and Mercedes are fashion experts, no surprise there, am I not allowed to be good at _something?" _

She sat down in a huff but nobody said anything since she had a very valid point.

Based upon the afternoon's events Mr. Shue came up with an assignment where they got to be paired up (to-do the mystery top hat of doom) and sang a song to their partner that shows how their new perspective on another side of them.

_Rachel and Kurt:_ Kurt groaned and Rachel just sighed.

_Mercedes and Sam:_ Mercedes thought of all the ways she could bring down her chocolate thunder on his white boy ass.

_Artie and Brittany: _ They both smiled shyly which made Santana want to barf.

_Finn and Mike:_ Definitely mixing it up.

_Tina and Puck_ (if he ever decided to return from juvie; until then Mr. Shue would allow her to pick some person at random to sing her song to)

_Santana and Quinn: _Everyone could feel the little streams of electricity.


	10. Chapter 9

Quinn's room looked like girly paradise. Many bright colored quilts, flowery curtains, plush toys of every breed and fabric. Very few pictures though, and Santana suspected this was because she didn't want to be reminded of a childhood where she grew up with a man who'd eventually leave her and cheat on her mom. Santana felt a glimmer of empathy for the girl but it quickly died out when she recalled an incident earlier that afternoon.

Quinn "accidentally" spilled her water bottle on Santana's lap (super-childish). Made more advances on Brittany (until Santana made a biting comment about Quinn gaining weight and her possibly being pregnant again). But then she hit a new low. Quinn walked straight up to Puck (now back from juvie) and asked him out. And amazingly no one thought she was a slue for doing so. Hello? They're Mommy and Daddy.

-|- present time -|-

"Why does it matter to you?" Quinn sneered as Santana had brought it up when she walked into her bedroom with drinks. The reason Quinn even allowed Santana in her room was because of their Glee assignment.

"It matters because we are the two hottest, most sexually promiscuous, badass kids at this school. We go together. You don't. And don't you realize what you are doing to your own reputation? Getting back together with the guy who knocked you up at 16? You know he's still going to sleep around behind your back. You're only doing this to get to me!"

Quinn almost cracked but she held her ground, "What are you in love with him?"

"No, but you're being unfair to him. He's probably always going to be a player but he genuinely cares about you, and you've moved on. Sam is good for you. He'll show you what a real romance is like, but if you keep stringing Puck along you'll only get hurt. And so will he."

Quinn was unperturbed by the profound nature of Santana's words, "So why do you keep seeing him if you know he's into me?"

Santana's head nearly exploded, "_¡Por Dios! _ It's what we do Quinn!" Her hands were balled up into fists, "We sleep around, we sleep with each other. It may sound stupid and gross but it's therapeutic. We both can't have what we want so we go for second best. Is that what you wanted to hear? The sad truth about my love life. Yeah that's right. I love Brittany. But can you really bring yourself low enough to screw that up for me?"

Quinn knew Santana had feelings for Brittany, but she wasn't sure if she would try to ruin it. Quinn was not a bad person. Ambitious, yes. Evil? She'd leave that slot for some other bitch to fill.

But she couldn't help feeling the resentment she did, for Santana. What gave her the right to tell Quinn off like that? Her shit wasn't the only shit in the world. "You don't even deserve Brittany…" Quinn muttered quietly, a last, bitter attempt to piece together the perfect reality she'd created in her head. One where Santana was obliterated and all the doors were opened for Quinn and Quinn only.

Santana launched herself across the room and punched Quinn in the stomach, skipping the catty scratching and biting and moved onto a full on beating. Quinn wasn't a weakling. She flipped Santana over and fought back; each punch accentuated with newly formed tears.

After the girls had fought it out (bruises already covering much of their skin) they lay together on Quinn's bed, side-by-side. It was sort of poetic and melancholy. They were close enough to touch but still refusing to take that plunge. Like fire and water. Two equally powerful elements but never dare to reach the other.

Santana sat up, cringing as the pain in her stomach hit her full blast now.

"Sorry," Quinn muttered, getting up as well.

Santana refused to look at her. "Don't be. You make a good enemy, Q. And in all fairness you put up a good fight."

"I'd say the same back but that would mean you're winning."

Santana laughed mirthlessly, "Don't be stupid. You're the one who's winning. You always have been. The only reason I can't have Brittany the way I want to is because of my own stupid fears." She looked over at Quinn who was now staring directly at her, "Because, for some masochistic reason I prefer _this _more than love. I'd rather claw my way to the top than be with her. So you're right," Santana said as she got up to leave, "I don't deserve her. And she doesn't deserve to be strung along, with the hope that maybe one day I'll come out of the closet for her."

Santana slammed the door on the way out and Quinn threw her one of her many fat, fluffy pillows at it. She cursed Santana out and all her stupid wisdom. But she wasn't going to give up. She wasn't going to let Santana's rare expression of emotion get to her. She was going to be the one on the pedestal while Santana begged to kiss her foot.

She was full of it.


	11. Chapter 10

"Fuck you Quinn!"

They were rolling around on the floor again, this time in the middle of Cheerio's practice with a bunch of gossipy girls snapping pictures on their phones. Brittany stood by the side, tearfully clutching her pom-pom.

Brittany, who was normally clueless knew exactly the weight of the words Quinn had just said.

"Santana's a _lesbian."_

Gosh, how Brittany hated that word. Maybe if it didn't exist this would all go away. But it did exist, it was real, in front of her, kicking and screaming.

Santana stood up, ready to walk off in a very Rachel Berry-ish manner when Quinn tripped her. Santana's eyes burst from the the tears that refused to fall. Her make-up smeared. Her lip was bleeding. She stood up again and kicked Quinn near the edge of her rib cage. She kicked her so hard that Quinn's body folded up immediately, like a spider when it dies. Her shrieks of pain were unnerving and one of the younger Cheerios had the brains to call an ambulance.

Before Sue could get to Santana for damaging her star Cheerio, Santana had sprinted all the way off the field and could now be seen fuming off down the road, ignoring all the honks of cars whom she'd gotten in the way of.

_Santana was at the top of the pyramid. She was a little nervous because this was the first time coach allowed her to be on top. Her knee quivered slightly and something inside her died a little. She could feel herself falling. From the other end of the pyramid Brittany cried out but was nowhere near a position to save her. The Cheerios tried to dismantle as quick as they could but the fastest girl to stick her arm out was Quinn. She yanked Santana's body out of the air on top of her and the two girls tumbled on the grass. Before Santana had a chance to thank her Coach was screaming at her for being incompetent and stupid. She promoted Quinn to the top of the pyramid that day. Santana hated her for it. She would rather have died._

-|- At the hospital -|-

Quinn was crumpled up on the gurney, refusing to let go of her side which was now throbbing with agonizing pain. She could vaguely make out voices in the background but she only needed to hear one voice. Just _one _voice in particular and she could snap back into reality, with the fight in her to survive.

_Don't be stupid, _she scolded herself, _she'd be the last person to my funeral, if she'd even come at all. _Without Santana cursing her out, laughing at her defeat, doing anything, _anything _to get her angry, Quinn lost the will to stay awake. There was nothing else to fight with. She let the pain consume her and was sent into the blackness.

Quinn lay on a bed, dreaming, after the doctor's repaired her broken rib. Santana's kick, unnaturally powerful as it was, didn't do major damage so the young blonde would be fine. Just not fine enough to finish the Cheerios season. This was enough to send her into a blinding rage. The doctor's quickly sedated her so that she wouldn't move around to much and further damage her ribs.

Her sleep was troubled with nightmares of both reality and surreality.

_The Cheerios were in the middle of some crazy routine which exhausted Quinn to her core. Near the end Santana purposely bumped into Quinn causing her to fall. She wasn't fast enough to recover before the Coach noticed and called her out. Quinn wasn't in the mood to take this. She couldn't let Santana get away with this._

_Sue sent her to the bench where Quinn reached into her duffel and pulled out her secret weapon. It was a photo, blurry, but you could see what she wanted you to see when she said, "It's Santana and Brittany…kissing." _

_It was during their Rocky Horror Week in Glee Club. Santana had Brittany pinned up against one of the lockers, kissing her passionately. The way Brittany was taken aback by the kiss made her seem like the victim. Quinn knew this could bring Santana down, while still leaving Brittany's reputation intact._

_Still she hesitated. She wasn't sure if she was ready to do something like this. She looked up again, and saw Santana's cocky smirk as she replaced Quinn in the routine and then Quinn was sure. The moment they finished she shouted, "Santana's a lesbian," and tossed the picture out at them._

_One girl picked up the photo and passed it around.. The other girls giggled and seemed to be interpreting the picture exactly the way Quinn wanted them to. Santana refused to look at anyone aside from Brittany. Brittany looked like she just wanted to melt away into nothing._

_She knew about Santana's fear of coming out. She wasn't even sure if they were dating for real. But she knew this would send her over the edge. She knew this was the one thing that could take Santana away from her for good. And for once in her life, she actually hated someone. She hated Quinn with all her heart._

_Santana reached over to grab her hand but Brittany pulled away. She only wanted to make things better. She wanted to show Santana that she could play straight in front of other people. But the other Cheerios's thought Santana was harassing her and crowded protectively around the tall blonde. Instead of cowering in fear Santana searched for the source of this mess. She pounced on Quinn and began punching her so furiously Quinn forgot what the world looked like before fists came crashing down on her face._

_Santana moved to get up but Quinn didn't want to let her get away. She wanted to show everyone that she was the HBIC. She tripped her. And in an instant Santana was standing again, by her side, then she felt her rib crack, and pain like she never knew flowed through her. She let go of her anger and malice and for once just succumbed to defeat._

_She didn't care what the doctors told her to do. She just wanted to sleep. She wanted to pretend that if she closed her eyes, she'd wake up and realize it was all…just…a dream…_

Quinn's eyes shot open and she flew up in her bed. Her face twisted in pain when she realized where she was, what had happened to her, and what she had done.

She saw the ghost of Santana's face in her room, but then it left. Whether it was really Santana or not didn't matter. Quinn had crossed a line, and she knew nothing would be the same after this.


	12. Chapter 11

It had been a week since Quinn and Santana's fight. Quinn was okay to walk and do normal activities but she was banned from cheerleading the rest of the season. Naturally, so was Santana since she had caused the fight, only further besmirching her name in Sue's eyes.

The two girls were now in more resentment of the world than ever, and even more so, with each other.

Brittany had spent the majority of her days hollowly passing through the school days, skipping Glee so she could go home, lock herself in her room, and play Speechless over and over again while she cried over Santana.

Karofsky tossed Kurt up against the locker and the smaller boy just allowed himself to be bullied because now he knew Karofsky's secret. He saw Quinn walk by and quickly got up to follow her.

"Hey Quinn, can I ask you something?"

"Oh hey Kurt!" she liked Kurt. He had a great fashion sense plus he was pretty decent to her. "Sure, ask away."

"What does it feel like? To give up someone else's secret?"

Quinn's eyes narrowed. She never pegged Kurt for the bitchy type. This was low. Everyone knew Quinn felt sorry for what she did but this didn't stop them from shouting offensive names at Santana whenever she walked down the halls. "It feels fucking great, Lady-face." She never called her fellow Glee friends by their crude nicknames but she wasn't in the mood.

"I don't mean to offend you Quinn. I mean seriously, did it make you feel better? Even for a second?" His eyes were sincere, and he looked as though he might cry so she had a feeling there was some double meaning behind this question.

"No," she said solemnly, "Not even for a second."

Quinn left him standing there, feeling more depressed than ever.

Even though rumor had spread that Santana was a lesbian, and she was kicked off the Cheerios, she still retained a high status. Now she was just a lesbian, bitchy ex-cheerleader which increased her sex appeal ten-fold. It wasn't the sort of attention she wanted but she lapped up anything she could get. When they all sat together their costumes for the girls mash-up number, Quinn, Brittany and Santana sat in a comfortable silence, choosing to ignore all hard feelings.

Both Quinn and Santana wore their Cheerio's uniform still because Sue hadn't taken them away yet (for reason's unknown) and although they were both no longer Cheerios, the uniform itself held huge authority amongst the student body. Just to see one approaching was to avert eyes, bow out to either end of the hallway, gasp at the creature glorious enough to wear the royal material (polyester and cotton blend).

The assignment from the week before was long forgotten after Mr. Shue and the rest of the club had gotten wind of Quinn/Santana's incident. Naturally they all sided with Quinn but Santana was content to alienate herself from a group of people who didn't care about her to begin with. Brittany chose to remain impartial and associated with everyone else aside from her two closest friends.

-|- During 2nd Period; both Mike and Brittany have a Free Period -|-

Mike and Brittany were, once again, in the dance studio a couple blocks down from their school working out dance routines. They never spoke, because they usually had nothing to say. Besides, dancing was how they expressed their feelings. Every emotion accented their twists, flips, thrusts, and dips.

It was enough. Until now. Brittany fumbled at the end of one step (for the fifth time that morning) and instead of trying to recover just spun off into an angry stupor where she hit the wall and slid to the ground trying to see clearly through her red-rimmed eyes.

She'd been crying so much lately she began to thought that was her natural skin color; angry, blistering red.

"Mike," she muttered softly.

He squatted down beside her, back leaning against the wall.

"You're sort of my only friend."

"That's not true," he replied easily.

"Well sure, lots of _guys _like me because I put out for them. Everyone else cause I'm all bubbly and nice. It's not like I'm being fake it's just nobody ever gets to know the real me because they think I'm either too stupid or too popular to be worth their time. But with you and me it's okay. We don't need to talk. We can dance and it creates this sort of intima- intimation -no- intimidacy-no!"

"Intimacy?" he suggested and she nodded.

"That's all we need. I like it. It's easier than finding the right words to express how I'm feeling. I just need to dance, and it'll be okay."

"But…" he prompted and tears threatened to spill. She hurriedly wiped them away, refusing play the role of weepy, lovesick chick.

"But lately it hasn't been enough."

"Is this about the rumors?"

She only nodded, refusing to speak, for fear of letting out a sob.

"Are they true?" he wanted them not to be, but her mangled cry only confirmed his suspicions.

"I don't even care," she shouted suddenly, "she could be interested in girls, guys, or worms, I don't give a shit. What I do care about is that stupid bitch that gave it all away. You really think Santana would hurt a person without being provoked first? She's not like Coach Sylvester, or Azimio or Karofsky. Everything she does has a reason. Quinn stuck her incredibly big nose in someone else's business and she paid the price. But Santana is getting the brunt of everyone's hate and aggression. _Santana broke her rib. Santana's a lesbian. Crazy bitch._ It's not fair!"

Mike stood up and grabbed Brittany's hand. He twirled her around a couple times until she lost her breath completely and sobs stopped as she tried to catch her breath again.

"I don't like taking sides. But I do like you Brittany. And I like Glee Club. And I don't care if you're gay or not. So whatever it takes to make things right, I'd do it. Just so we could have this again…you know…intimidacy?"

Brittany chuckled a little and pressed her forehead against his, "Intimacy."

-|- Weeks later -|-

Quinn walked into Santana's house only to find the Latina sprawled out on the couch with something red all over her hands. She sprinted up to her in a panic only to see that it was cranberry juice, which she had spilt all over herself apparently before she went to sleep.

Quinn was about to let go of Santana's hand to go get towels when the other girl stirred, "Don't you dare let go Fabray. I'm not finished with you."

Darker fingers wrapped around Quinn's small knuckles and Santana sat up quickly, surprisingly alert.

"Sit next to me. We've got to talk some things through before we decide what to do next."

"There isn't going to be a next move," Quinn said quietly.

Santana laughed, "The hell there isn't. I know you. You're no better than me. It doesn't matter how many times people kick us down we're just gonna get back up, this time with battle scars." She closed her mouth thoughtfully for a moment before speaking again, "you know, by the time one of us makes it we're going to be really ugly. Too many scars."

Quinn looked into Santana's eyes, which were hollow. They lacked the usual fire. There was no venom behind her words. Quinn began to cry.

"Is this ridiculous?" she sobbed, "it's like we're living some stupid, fucking movie. What is this, why can't I be normal?"

Santana stroked her hair, "I ask myself the same question everyday."

Quinn pulled herself together and began furiously cleaning Santana's loft. Santana didn't bother helping in fact dirtied the room more by attacking the Doritos bag sending another shower of crumbs onto the floor. Quinn said nothing because cleaning was her therapy and the more mess there was the more cleaning she could do.


	13. Chapter 12

So sorry for the late update. I totally forgot about this story, and I know this chapter is short so I'll update again soon. In the meantime, thank you for all the wonderful reviews and the favorites and the subscriptions. And thank you to all who have made suggestions and/or comments that helped me grow as a writer. This may not be the best story I've written but it certainly won't be the last.

* * *

Quinn came back the following weeks and repeated the same routine. At the end of each day Santana found nothing else to do than pig out on junk food since Brittany wasn't around anymore. At school they were friendly but it was sort of like they were just classroom friends. You know, like the kinds you make when you're paired up for partner assignments?

Each time Quinn came back Santana had more food. First chips, then she'd literally have made herself like ten sandwiches. One time she came and there were three pizza boxes; all the cheese was even scraped off the cardboard.

Quinn never asked why, she just cleaned.

That is until she opened the door and Santana was totally wasted. There must have been like ten empty bottles tossed around the floor. Santana looked dead. This time Quinn didn't hesitate in calling the police. She was stuck in rehab the following month after the doctor's treated her for severe alcohol consumption.

When she was released she was even less like herself. But Brittany refused to let this separate them. She came over after school again. She touched Santana in all the right places. She kissed her goodnight, but it just wasn't the same.

Coach had begrudgingly allowed Santana her spot back because without her striking fear into the minors they'd sort of lost their edge. Quinn still had to wait a month before cheering again and for this her resentment of Santana resumed, though less heated.

She stopped seeing her afterschool. She reverted back to sending her glares across the chorus room. None of this mattered though because Santana was in a deep funk, and nothing could push her farther down than she already was.

The teasing at school had gotten worse. Even more explicit photos were released that Jacob Ben Israel had been harboring for a while now. Images of Santana kissing Brittany in different places, with even more lust and passion than the first picture.

Although they were sure both Santana _and _Brittany were lesbian they refused to torment the blonde that way. The girl was just too damn sweet. But it was the perfect excuse to offer up payback for all the times Santana was a bitch to everyone else.

The world "dyke" was spray painted across her car in red. People threw crumpled pieces of paper at her head during class. Even Kurt was empathetic. He'd never gotten it as bad as this. It was twisted; the pleasure everyone else got of seeing someone who's head was once held so high crumble into a defenseless little deer they could trample all over.

She stopped caring eventually. She stopped caring about everything. Brittany was concerned so she had Mike drive them to the doctors' office and they gave her Prozac. Santana Lopez had _clinical depression._


	14. Chapter 13

**_Okay so I seriously didn't feel like leaving you guys hanging especially after the last chapter was so short. And I was hoping to have more subscriptions and reviews but just like Mr. Shue pointed out in A Very Glee Christmas, now is a time to appreciate what we have instead of moping over what we don't._**

**_And to whomever cares out there, I'm sorry to say that this story will be coming to a close soon. Please don't be upset, I just didn't want to drag it out for so long and then it turns into crap. There will be 15 chapters total and, yes, I'll finish posting before Christmas because I wouldn't want you to be sick with anticipation over the holidays._**

**_It truly shames me to advertise myself but if you actually did like this fanfiction then go check out some of my other ones. I wrote a couple others for Glee, NCIS, and even though I wrote them 2 years ago and I think they're absolute shit, I also have a couple of iCarly fanfics._**

**_Happy Holidays in Advance!_**

* * *

Santana's hand furiously worked pages after pages. She was busy finishing up a story for her final Creative Writing project. Ever since her reputation had been obliterated without hopes of ever returning to it's peak, she focused on her academic life. Even after all this she refused to end up the loser. She would win…eventually.

"San," Brittany walked up to her cheerfully. Santana was sitting on the bleachers around sunset one afternoon. "What you doing?"

"What does it look like?"

"So I see your medication's working," Brittany giggled.

"What's it to you?"

Brittany didn't reply to this but she refused to get mad. The doctor's told her to be patient with Santana.

"It means everything to me. You're my world." Brittany leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on Santana's forehead, which made the Latina smile, even when she was trying so hard to frown.

"Fuck off," she muttered, still smiling.

"If you say so…" Brittany taunted, "but I did have other plans."

Santana laughed out loud, the first genuine laugh Brittany had heard in weeks, "I can't Britt. I have to finish this. But I'll be done in a couple hours and maybe the offer will still be open?" She winked seductively and Brittany couldn't help herself. She leaned over and kissed her, full on the mouth this time. She stared at Santana in the eyes, "I missed you."

"I missed me too."

Brittany left and Santana resumed her work. She put aside her monomyth assignment and pulled out her Physics textbook. She re-read an old chapter just to numb her brain a little. It was overflowing with thoughts right now and she didn't feel like dealing.

"Jeez, Lopez, I didn't peg you for the nerdy type." Quinn had her hands tucked away in her pockets, her yellow locks shining golden in the evening sun.

"I didn't peg you as the bitchy type," Santana replied icily. It was immature to think this but Santana heaved a lot of blame for her problems on Quinn. It was just easier to handle that way. _Why are you so depressed Santana? _Quinn made my life a living hell.

"No need to be an asshole it's just you and me remember?" Quinn's eyes twinkled, but her tone was bittersweet, "there are no secret's between us."

"That's right," Santana replied dryly, "Feel like sharing something new with the world? Well I'm going home to have hot sex with my girlfriend tonight. How 'bout spreading that around?"

"Chill, San," Quinn said sternly, "You need to move on."

Santana threw all her books down so violently that Quinn flinched, "You need to move on. You need to get over the fact that NEITHER OF US WILL EVER REACH THE TOP. ME BECAUSE I'M TOO FUCKED UP TO DO ANYTHING GOOD WITH MY LIFE, YOU, BECAUSE YOU'RE A HEARTLESS BITCH WHO DELUDED HERSELF INTO THINKING THAT BY TAKING ME DOWN YOU'D BE PROPELLING YOURSELF FORWARD!"

"Santana!" Quinn shouted back warningly.

"No, no Quinn no!" she screamed, "I'm done listening to you. I'm sick of caring about my reputation so much. Just let me study in peace."

Quinn reached over and kissed her. Not a friendly "hello" kiss on the cheek kiss. Like French-kissing, running-hands-through-hair kiss.

Santana shoved her away, "What the fuck was that?"

Quinn pulled away with tears in her eyes, "Oh please. I thought your gaydar was better than that!"

"You're not gay, Fabray."

"I am for you. Damn you and all your aggression and passion, and you refuse to give up. Nothing I did could get you down. Even when you were drunk and depressed you still looked so hot. People aren't afraid of you because you're gay. They're afraid of you because you're you. And damn if I can't have you. I couldn't keep my own baby. I couldn't keep my top-dog status. I don't even have a fucking family. I-I never had a best friend…"

Santana swallowed hard.

Quinn looked up at her tearfully, "You were the one who won. You always did. You had everything I didn't. You had Brittany."

Santana pointed her finger at Quinn menacingly, "You don't dare talk about her in front of me. I don't care what it is you have to say I don't want to hear it."

"Because it's true!" she shouted, "I don't know why you tried to have my life when yours was so much better."

Santana strode up to Quinn and began kissing her passionately. He hand slipped under her shirt and she pressed their bodies even closer together. Her hands roamed all parts of her body and Quinn began to comply. Their tongues mingled in each other's mouths. It didn't matter how frigid the weather the moment was hot and intimate.

Then suddenly Santana pulled back. She placed a hand on her hip then spat, "Did you like it?"

Quinn nodded slowly, aching for Santana to be close to her again.

"Good," Santana's tone was bitter, "Because you're never getting it again. Now you know what it feels like to have love ripped away from you. What Brittany and I have now, it's not the same as before and it's going to take a lot of hard work to get back there because of you. I hope you die miserable and alone."


	15. Chapter 14

Sorry this one was late again. I hadn't noticed because coincidentally my life is getting just about as screwed up as this story (life really does imitate art). Anyways, only one chapter left and don't be too disappointed. I promise I won't keep you waiting any more, and it's going up first thing tomorrow morning. Thank you to those who have stuck with the story even through the incredibly stupid or boring parts. I feel like I went on a journey along with my characters (yes you're allowed to slap me for being cheesy) and I enjoyed every moment of it.

So I'm going to leave you to read the story now, because I'm starting to sound like I'm dying.

* * *

Why was it so hard? Seeing the two of them together? Her hand in _her _hand? She just couldn't stand Santana's fingers running through _her _long blonde hair. None of this should have mattered to her but it did. Because as much as they'd both tried to deny it, Santana and Brittany were in love, it wasn't just an experiment. And shouldn't matter if they were gay. Love is love and that is that.

So how could she choose Quinn? After everything they'd been through together; after Brittany glued herself to Santana's side during her depression. Taking care of her day in and day out. Ever since they were seven, Brittany had always been on Santana's side. How could she just forget about all that, and go running into the arms of the bitch that ruined her life anyways?

But Brittany didn't let it get her down this time. She continued to play the role of blissfully clueless Brittany, who didn't have a care in the world. She still spoke with Santana because it would be too hard not to, but she had to refrain from reaching out to touch her hand. At the end of every phone call she'd bite her tongue before she said "I love you". She tried so hard to bury these feelings but it was nearly impossible since she saw her every day and every time all the feelings would just come rushing back again.

-|-Memorial Day (school holiday)-|-

A lot of teens were at the mall trying to get ahead on summer shopping. Quinn had someplace to be so Santana phoned Brittany and asked if she wanted to go shopping.

Brittany should've said no. Maybe staying away from her would make her easier to forget. But Santana didn't even need to say please because her instant reaction was "yes". It just rolled off Brittany' tongue and she couldn't take it back. So she spent another masochistic afternoon with the love of her life trying to pretend their relationship was strictly platonic.

They crashed at Brittany's house and Santana decided on having an impromptu sleepover. It seemed as though she was purposely peeling away the layers of Brittany's heart, slowly and painfully.

"Hey Britt," Santana mumbled, as she rolled around uncomfortably on the floor.

"Yeah?"

"I can't sleep. The floor is cold."

This wouldn't usually be a problem since they usually shared the same bed but Brittany tentatively asked if Santana could sleep on the floor and she obliged, knowing how her friend felt about the whole situation.

But now Santana regretted that decision because:

A) she missed Brittany

B) The floor _was _cold

Brittany was a sucker for this girl. She tossed aside the covers to her left and Santana crawled into bed.

"We're on opposite sides of the bed," Santana noted. And this was sort of symbolic for the fact that a year ago they were in completely different positions. Santana was the one who was too shy to be close to Brittany. Santana was the weak one, the pushover. Brittany was the vulnerable one who needed protecting. Brittany had control of Santana's emotions. And now everything took a 180 twist and Brittany felt bad because she realized that all the crap she's dealing with now is the same crap Santana had dealt with her whole life.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I don't mind if you touch me, or my hug me, or say I love you at the end of a phone call," Santana stated.

Brittany blinked. _Can she read my mind?_

"I know how you feel," Santana turned to face Brittany, who was staring hard at the ceiling, "I see the way you look at me."

"Then why are you here," Brittany didn't even notice but she had started to cry.

Santana pulled her into a hug, "Because I miss you. And it's selfish of me to put you through this torture but I can't stand being away from you."

"You have Quinn," Brittany muttered bitterly into her shoulder.

Santana sighed, "Yeah, I do. And I really do care about her, it's not just a fling. But me, Britt, I'm all wrong for you."

"Then I like being wrong."

"No, trust me you don't. I'm…" Santana sighed deeply, "I'm really fucked up. I didn't want to heave all the pressure of taking care of me on your shoulders. I wanted you to be happy. And maybe you don't feel it now but trust me, you will later."

"That's bullshit," Brittany shouted, even though Santana was only an inch away. She was mad at Santana but she refused to pull away from her embrace.

"I love _you _Brittany. I always have, always will." Santana sighed again, and Brittany had counted 30 times that evening. _Wow, I'm counting her breaths. How much more pathetic could I be?_

"If you love me than you wouldn't have left me for her."

"She knows."

"Then why are you two together? It sounds kind of sick."

Santana laughed, "It is sick. She knows I love you but she never tells me not call you, or hang out with you. In fact sometimes she asks why I haven't left her yet?"

"Why haven't you?" Brittany knew it was childish and immature to wish for Santana to break up with her girlfriend, but all she could do was hope.

"Because I need her, just like she needs me. I fire her up, she cools me down. We're very compatible."

"Since when does that matter in a relationship. You follow what's in your heart, not what teen magazines tell you to do."

"I didn't mean compatible like compatibility tests. I find those very stupid. But, we're both so screwed up inside, she's the only one who understands."

"I understand."

"No you don't."

"Well I can try!" Brittany pleaded. She began sobbing again and buried her head into Santana's neck.

"I don't want you to. I don't want you to ever feel the way that I do. I don't want you to understand my obsession with winning. I don't want you to feel how I felt; completely lost and alone. Nothing is ever worth giving up this. I love you Britt, and that's why we can't be together."

"That doesn't make any sense," Brittany replied honestly.

"We're 16 Brittany! We shouldn't be feeling this way at such a young age. We need some time apart. I need some time apart. I need to discover who _I _am and what things _I _want. What are my values? What are my goals? What are my good traits? My bad traits? I don't like walking into things blind. I can't be in love with you if I don't even know how."

"You don't need to have all the answers San. I don't."

"I just…I just can't stand this helpless feeling. What if something goes wrong between us?"

"You know I'll never leave you."

"That's not the point. What if, no matter how much we love each other, how hard we try to make this work. What if you move? What if you die? I can't stand that I can't stand to be away from you. I don't want my whole world to end if you're gone."

"Then I'll never leave."

"You can't be sure of that."

"San, listen to me. You can't have everything in this world, okay? You can't have every fucking thing. But I mean, if you let me, I'll try to give you everything else. Love, affection, shelter. I'll make sure you're warm at night, and I'll kiss your forehead, or your hands, or your cheek, whenever your lips are too tired. And I'll cook and if you don't like my cooking than we'll order take out. And I'll be your girlfriend, or maybe just your friend with benefits. I'll sleep in the same bed as you, and if you're mad then I'll sleep on the floor or the couch or the ceiling if it makes you happy? I'll fight with you, and I'll call you names as long as it makes you happy, or mad, or whatever the fuck you wanna be I'll do it all, ok? I'm just as scared as you. I don't like feeling so helpless and confused either but as long as we're together none of that matters, ok?"

"Oh Britt…you're too good to me." And the two fell asleep in each other's arms; the first night of restful sleep after many restless nights.

* * *

Quinn cried herself to sleep in Santana's arms as they sat together in a hospital chair. Her mother was just diagnosed with terminal cancer. Santana came as soon as she called. And Quinn didn't care that moments ago she was at Brittany's house. She didn't care if Santana loved her or not, she just wanted to be held. So Santana held her all night long, and whispered comforting things in her ear. And she would do so for the rest of Quinn's life..._hasta que un día…_


	16. Chapter 15

_**This is it. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it very much. And I hope I did Santana and Quinn justice.**_

* * *

"No."

The look of shock on Santana's face was painful, but not enough to make Quinn want to take it back.

"Why not?"

"Because you love _her_."

"But I love you too.

"But you love her just a little bit more."

Santana refused to let this go, "But what about you?"

"I'll be fine."

"Don't you love me?"

At this Quinn hesitated. She didn't want to admit to feelings for the feisty Latina. But the truth is, what she thought was a desperate, needy act of hooking up blossomed into love. It's true. She did love Santana. But she knew it couldn't last. Even from the start of her relationship.

"No."

Santana's eyebrows shot up so high it looked like they might fly off her forehead. "I know you're lying Quinn. I can always tell when you're lying."

"I figured. But it doesn't matter. You love her more, and I'd feel bad if I was holding you back."

"I'd feel bad if I just dropped you like a dead fly. We're better for each other. I'd just be bringing her down. And who's to say she'll take me back now?"

"Did you hear yourself when you were talking me last night?" Quinn asked incredulously, "the way you talked about her. You described her in such perfect detail even I was turned on. You talk about her like she's the most beautiful creature on earth."

"I'm sorry," Santana mumbled, she reached out and squeezed Quinn's hands, "You are beautiful."

"I won't deny that," Santana smirked upon hearing these words, "but you belong with Brittany. The same way that you know when I'm lying, I know when you are. Brittany is the best thing that ever happened to you, and I just stole you away. I don't want to live a relationship that's just built off of guilt. Don't worry about me. I'll get over it."

"I'm not heartless. I couldn't do that. Not for you not even for myself."

"You have to try."

Santana threw herself back on the couch in frustration, "You know, maybe I just shouldn't be involved with anybody. All my relationships end in disaster."

Quinn leaned over and passionately kissed Santana. Santana got caught up in the moment and kissed back with even more enthusiasm. She could feel tears streaming down Quinn's cheeks and she placed her hand on Quinn's neck, pulling her impossibly closer.

Even when they stopped kissing they didn't separate. Their foreheads were pressed together and Quinn was silently sobbing while Santana whispered comforting words into her ear.

"I do love you. This wasn't just a fling. I wouldn't have been your girlfriend for 2 whole years if I didn't love you. I'm sorry if I haven't been here the entire time; I'm sorry for all those times I said Brittany's name instead of yours. I'm sorry for being the worst girlfriend in the world but I do love you. And no matter who I'm with it's going to take forever to stop the aching in my heart when I'm not with you."

"Don't-" Quinn's voice cracked and Santana rubbed circles in her back, "don't say that. Don't make it harder for you to leave. You don't think I'm going to miss you too? It never mattered to me, your lingering feelings for Brittany, because as long as I had you, even for a second I was happy."

"Just tell me what to do to make this better," Santana was crying too, "Whatever it is, I'll do it."

Quinn pushed her away, "Just leave."

Santana spent the entire evening packing. And along with packing came crying. Quinn sat in the living room downstairs just staring at the door. Trying to imagine Santana walking out and trying to imagine smiling and not crying and not begging her to stay.

They hadn't officially become a couple until senior year and then after that they ended going to the same local college. Brittany left without a word but Quinn had it on good word that she made it into Julliard with a scholarship for dance.

A few days ago Santana had happened to run into Brittany at a local cafe. Santana relayed the whole event to Quinn and that's when she knew that she had to let her go. She couldn't deny those moments in their relationship when Santana felt especially distant but then she'd come around and surprise her with dinner, or roses, or some other sweet gesture. Santana wasn't a bad girlfriend at all she just wasn't in love. And there was no point in pursuing a relationship where the feeling wasn't mutual.

Quinn saw Santana come downstairs with a suitcase and a duffel bag. They'd shared the cost of a small apartment but Quinn knew Santana's parents were begging her to come home, so it's not like Quinn was kicking her out on the street.

Quinn never averted Santana's gaze, because she wanted to prove she was stronger than that. But she wasn't ready for Santana's little surprise attack.

She slowly approached the door, staring at Quinn the whole time, who was holding it open. Right at the threshold Santana suddenly reached out and grabbed Quinn's head, and kissed her with so much passion Quinn thought her head might explode and then whipped around and headed out the door.

Quinn smiled a little at the gesture; _She never really was good at expressing her emotions._

__Epilogue__

"Hey," Santana said softly.

"Hey..."

Aside from everything Santana did to her, Brittany couldn't help but feel the immediate surge of warmth flowing through her whenever Santana spoke.

"Would it be redundant if I asked you to take me back?"

Santana looked really pitiful standing in the doorway of the dance studio with her suitcases and the beautifully, heartbroken expression on her face.

"Depends," Brittany smirked slightly and Santana's heart swelled.

"On what?"

"Who won?" she said simply, and it was all Santana needed to know everything was okay. She crashed into Brittany's embrace, too exhausted to cry.

"I don't care."


End file.
